Elastic fabric



April 12, 1932. N. A. CRIMMINS ELAS'TI C FABRI C Filed June 17, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet ATP \3 INVENTOR NEIL A. CRlMMlNS ATTORNEY April 12, 1932.N. A. CRIMMINS ELASTIC FABRIC 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 17,

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INVENTOR NEIL A. GRIMMINS ATTORN EY of extension and contraction. It iscovered Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE NEIL A.CRIMMINS, OF STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NEIL A. CRIM- MINS,INC., OF STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTSELASTIC Application filed June 17,

This invention relates to elastic knitted,

woven or braided fabrics such as are used in corsets, reducing garments,garters, supporters, stockings with elastic tops, and a variety of otherarticles in which bands of elastic material enter the construction inone way or another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fabric of the typedescribed contain- 7 ing a plurality of elastic threads each having arubber core and a plurality of covers which cooperate to control thestretch of the fabric, to anchor the threads in the fabric, to providefirm gripping surfaces for sewing machine stitches, and to limit theseparation of the rubber core when severed and thereby maintain thecontinuity of the fabric.

In the manufacture of corsets and other garments it is customary to sewsections of elastic fabrics together or to other sections of non-elasticfabrics. When the elastic fabric is made of ordinary covered rubberthreads, having the usual smooth outer surfaces, the sewing machineneedle often enters the spaces between adjacent threads, or sometimesmerely pierces the edges'of the threads. Consequently, when the fabricis stretched, many of the covered rubber threads slip be-. tween thesewing machine stitches, and then through the fabric, causingobjectionable im= perfections and impairing the utility and value of thegarment. The sewing machine needle may also glance off the smooth orhard surface of the thread, causing the needle to break with consequentloss in production. Sometimes the needle severs the rubber core, andwhen this happens the edges of the core pull apart in spite of the;covering threads, leaving an unsightly gap.

Elastic rubber thread is used for the purpose mentioned above because ofits qualities FABRIC 1931. Serial No. 545,011.

to give added strength, prevent deterioration, and to control orregulate the stretch and contraction. The requirements of elas-- ticfabrics are decidedly in favor .of short stretch having a quickcontraction to its original length after being stretched, and possessionof the greatest possible strength. with minimum bulk. stretch is limitedby laying an inextensible cotton stay thread alongside the rubber core,or by twisting threads around the rubber core in a long pitched or openspiral, but since such stay threads constitute only about 20% of theaggregate tensile strength of the total covering, they are readilybroken and of doubtful further value.

In some fabrics the- Stay threads of the type referred to do not preventslippage of the covered elastic threads through the fabric itself orthrough the sewing machine stitches. Some attempts, however, have beenmade to reduce the amount of slippage through the fabric by knotting theindividual elastic threads at in tervals to provide spaced knots orbumps intended to grip the knitting loops of a knitted fabric or thecross threads of awoven or braided fabric. One objection to thispractice is that the knots form bumps or projections in the finishedfabric which destroy its uniformity and render it objectionable for mostpurposes. Another objection is that sincesuch knots are spaced apart onthe surfaces of the elastic threads, they can only grip the fabric atspaced intervals. Furthermore, the portions of the threads lying betweenthe knots are spaced further away from adjacent threads of the fabricthan they would be if the knots were not present at all, so that thesewing machine stitches always tend to enter these'spa'ces instead ofpiercingthe covers of the elastic threads themselves.

My improved fabric is made up of a pluralityof "covered elastic threadswhich are speciallyconstructedto control the stretch of thefabric inwhich theyare used. The fabric has a smooth, uniformtexture entirelywithout knots-or bumps which" are characteristic of some -oftheanti-slipping fabrics mentioned above, and is so constructed that theroughened gripping surfaces of theindithreads 2, 3, 4 and 5.

vidual elastic threads cooperate with each other and with the knittingloops of a knit ted fabric, or the cross threads of a woven or braidedfabric, to retard slippage and enable the sewing machine needle topierce the body of the threads w thout special effort or skill on thepart of the operator.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will bedescribed in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view showing one form of elastic thread employedin the construction of my fabric;

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar views showing two different modifications inthe construction of the covered elastic threads;

Fig. 4 is a front view of a brassiere having a waist band constructed ofelastic material made according to my invention;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing one form of knitted elastic fabricconstructed according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a woven elastic fabric constructedaccordingto the invention; and

Fig. 7 fabric.

The elastic thread shown in Fig. 1 consists of one or more rubber corethreads or strands 1 on which are wrapped a plurality of superimposedspirally wound textile cover is a plan view showing a braided Theinnermost cover 2, consisting of two ends of suitable textile fibressuch as cotton, is wound upon the rubber core preferably with a shortpitched close spiral so that it completely encloses the rubber core whenin the normal contracted conditions shown in the drawings.

The second cover 3 is generally similar to the first cover, but ispreferably composed of three ends of textile fibres wound in theopposite direction overthe first cover, also in a short pitched closespiral. The covers 2 and 3 together substantially cover and conceal therubber core even when it is stretched to the limit of its elasticity.

The third cover 4 is preferably composed of one end of fine, hardtwisted cotton which is wound tightly over the inner covers in a longpitched open spiral running in the opposite direction to the cover 3.The fourth cover 5 is also composed of one end of hard twisted cottonwhich is wound in an opposite direction to the cover 4, also in alongpitched open spiral.

The covers 2 and,3 serve to protect and strengthen the rubber core, andalso cooperate incontrolling the stretch thereof. Covers 4 and 5 withtheir long pitched open spirals cooperate in compressing the .first twocovers, causing the resulting extensible encasement to grip the rubbercore, and causing-the cover 3 to protrude or bulge out between the openspirals, raising countless small ridges or corrugations continuouslyaround the outer surface of the thread.

The construction shown in Fig. 2 difiers from that previously describedin that it employs only three covers. The innermost cover 6 is composedof four ends of cotton which are wound upon the rubber core in a shortpitched close spiral, completely enclosing the rubber core as shown inthe drawing. The second and third covers 7 and 8, respectively, are eachcomposed of one end of hard twisted cotton wound tightly over the cover6 in long pitched open spirals similar to the covers 4 and 5 in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3, the innermost cover 9 is composed of one end of cottonwrapped in a short pitched close spiral. The second cover 10 is composedof three ends of cotton wound in the opposite direction over the firstcover,

also in a short pitched close spiral. The

third and fourth covers 11 and 12, respectively, are each composed ofone end of hard twisted cotton wrapped in long pitched open spirals,similar to the outer covers previously described.

In all the forms described above, all the covers forming the encasementabout the rubber core will tighten andreach the breaking point atsubstantially the same time, well within the elastic limit of the rubbercore, limiting the stretch of the rubber and insuring that the breakingpoints of the core and all the covers are reached at approximately thesame point.

The fabric shown in Fig. 5 is a knit fabric having inelastic knittingloops 13 enclosing or interlaced with longitudinal elastic coveredthreads 14 constructed according to any of the modifications shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 3. It will be understood, however, that the fabric may bewoven, braided or otherwise constructed. since I do not limit myself. toany particular type of fabric. In any case, the fabric is knitted, wovenor braided tightly, or in a close mesh, so that in Fig. 5, for example,the roughened gripping surfaces of the elastic threads 14 are tightlyheld by the knitting loops 13, greately reducing the amount of slippageof the elastic threads 14 and making it difiicult to pul the threads 14out of the fabric even when the ends are exposed as in Fig. 5 which, ofcourse, is an abnormal condition. The spaces between the adjacentelastic threads 14 are somewhat exaggerated in Fig. 5 in order toclarify the showing, and in actual practice the roughened grippingsurfaces of adjacent threads may bulge out and substantially fill allsuch spaces as are shown in the drawing.-

The brassiere shown in Fig. 4 is of the type shown in Patent 1,640,823.issued August 30, 1927 to Katherine E. Cunningham, having an easyfitting vest 15 provided with shoulder straps 16 and an elastic beltportion ed fabrics were used in garments of this type,

or in other garments where it was necessary to stitch the elasticmaterial directly to other elastic or inelastic sections difliculty wasencountered because the sewing machine needle usually tended toenter-the spaces between adjacent elastic threads, or else merelypierced the edges of such threads. As a result, the elastic sectionswere notattached securely together or to the inelasiic portions of thegarment, and the garment would easily pull out of shape. If the rubbercore of any elastic thread happened to break, the sewing machinestitches would not assist ma 'terially in holding the severed ends ofthe thread together because the stitches at best would never runlongitudinally through the thread for any appreciable distance. This wasa great disadvantage because the covers heretofore used to Wrap therubber core could not be depended upon to prevent the severed ends ofthe core from separating.

In Fig. 1 the showing of the elastic fabric is diagrammatic, and inactual practice the elastic threads 14 run horizontally, or from left toright in. the drawings, so as to hold the garment snugly about the bodyof the wearer and flatten the diaphragm. The several covers, orwrappings of the elastic threads 14 cooperate to control the stretch ofthe fabric which may be limited to any desired degree, and also form anencasement which decidedly limits the peparation of the several ends ofthe rubber core and encloses them in such a manner as to make ,anyrupture'hard'ly perceptible. The roughened gripping surfaces of thethreads 14:, are firmly anchorcdin the knitting loops lgfand theroughened surfaces of the threads enable the sewing ma chine-needle topierce the body of the threads,

rounding portions of the fabric and prevent slipping.

Fig' 6 shows this view the usualinelastic warp and. weft threads areindicated at 22 and'23, respec tively. The elastic weftthrcads 24,similar to'the threads .14 in Fig. 5, are woven into 1 ping the outersurfaces thereof.

. g p l v one. form of woven fabric constructed accordmg to my mvention.In

the fabric at any desired intervals. It will be understood, ofcourse,that the elastic threads 24 may be run into the fabric as warp threads.In any case the cross threads grip the roughened surfaces'of the elasticthreads and hold them te-naciously in the fabric.

Fig. 7 shows one form of braided fabric constructed according to theinvention, consisting of a "series of longitudinal elastic threads 25running parallel to each other and preferably spaceduniformly throughoutthe fabric, and united by inelastic braiding threads 26.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to any particularnumber of strands in the core or covers of the elastic threads, or tothe preferred" arrangement of spiral covers, or to the particularfabrics which I have shown here for purposes of illustration, as it willbe evident that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. An elastic fabric comprising a plurality of elastic threads having arubber core, an inner cover wound around the core in a short pitchedspiral and an outer cover wound around the inner cover in a long pitchedspiral compressing the inner cover and causof elastic threads having arubber core, a

plurality of spirally wound superimposed covers on the core, oneentirely outside the its other, the outermost cover having a greaterpitch than the inner cover and compressing same to form an extensibleencasement gripping the rubber core and limiting the stretch thereof,and a plurality of inelastic threads interlaced with said elasticthreads and grip- .3. An elastic fabric comprising a. plurality ofelastic threads having a rubber core1an inner cover wound around thecore in a short pitched spiral and, a pair of outer covers wound aroundthe inner coverin oppositely directed long pitched spirals compressingthe inner cover and causing it-to bulge out between the convolutions ofthe outer covers, and a plurality of inelastic threads interlaced withsaid elastic threads and gripping the bulging outer surfaces thereof. a,

hAn elastic fabric comprising a. plurality of elastic threads having arubber core, an inner cover wound around the core in a short .pitched'spiral and a pair of outer covers wound around the inner. cover inoppositely .directed long pitched spirals compressing the. 1111181"cover and-causing it to bulge out be tween the convolutions of the outercovers, all of said covers being adapted to tighten so as to break atsubstantially the same point well within the elastic limit of the rubbercore, and a plurality of inelastic threads interlaced with said elasticthreads and gripping the bulging outer surfaces thereof.

5. A knitted elastic fabric comprising a plurality of elastic threadshaving a rubber core, an inner cover Wound around the core in a shortpitched spiral and an outer cover Wound around the inner cover in a longpitched spiral compressing the inner cover and causing it to bulge outbetween the convolutions of the outer cover, and a plurality of knittingloops forming the body of the fabric and gripping the bulging outersurfaces of said elastic threads.

Signed at Stoughton, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusettsthis 12 day of June A. D. 1981.

NEIL A. CRIMMINS.

